Pulling Through
by SandmanCircus
Summary: After a long battle, Soul and Maka walk home in the rain. One-shot. Fluffy.


lllllllll

lllllllll

lllllllll

**Pulling Through**

lllllllll

lllllllll

lllllllll

Rain fell heavily upon the earth and soaked the two in an icy chill as the moon mocked them both under the hollow night sky. Trudging through the muddy slums of Death City, home had never felt farther.

"You're stupid."

Maka furrowed her brows and gently let her eyes open, staring ahead through the curtain of her lashes. It took her mind a second longer than usual to rationalize his words due to the significant blood loss and all around fatigue. When she finally realized Soul was just being a dick, Maka closed her eyes once more, resting her forehead wearily against his back.

"Hmm..."

Soul frowned, Maka's delayed reaction did not go by him unnoticed. He bit back a curse and ignored the worry twisting his gut. He tried to focus on the distinct radiating warmth that her body offered and the gentle feeling of her lips pressed to his neck instead of the two blocks still separating them from first aid. It wasn't the first time this had happened, one of them dragging the other half dead back home; in fact this gruesome walk had turned into something of a monthly occurrence for the pair. Ever since reaching adulthood, their missions had become longer, harder and undeniably more dangerous. All it took was the tiniest mistake to end up butchered beyond recognition, a fact they knew all too well.

Absently noticing Maka's body sliding from where she lay barely awake on his back, Soul did an odd half hop and awkwardly managed to lift her back up to her perch. Prepared for at least a small moan of pain following his actions, when Maka remained unnervingly silent, Soul narrowed his eyes.

"Maka," he growled pointedly, afraid she'd lost consciousness.

When she didn't respond, Soul pinched her harshly in the rear to which Maka promptly replied by digging her heal into a bruise on his side.

"What..?" He was relieved to note that with the addition of annoyance, her voice had lost some of it's fatigue.

"You're stupid."

Under the feelings of guilt, part of her couldn't help being a tad ruffled. Knowing he was just worried however, she managed to snuff out the the tiny self righteous voice within her.

Shivering Maka curled closer to Soul's back and listened to the thunder roll about in the sky. Watching big, fat rain droplets slap the cobblestone road, she felt a familiar song creep into her mind.

When Maka had first begun to sing softly to herself, Soul wasn't exactly sure what she was doing. All of a sudden he had felt a gentle thrum rumble against his neck and was wondering what exactly Maka was trying to say, but when the rhythm slowly began to pick up a gentle melody he couldn't help a small smile. He recognized the song; it was a sad lullaby he'd learned when he was younger and must have played to Maka at some point in time. He tightened his hold on her legs subconsciously.

When they finally made it to their apartment, Maka was still softly humming the bittersweet tune.

"So one-to-ten, how bad off are you?" Soul asked as he gently lowered himself to the ground, next to the bench they had cleverly slid next to the front door.

"...Ten being?" With a hand still firmly planted on Soul's shoulder and a breathy hiss of pain, Maka eased herself down into the wooden seat.

"Dead."

She seemed to mull it over in her mind. "...Sevenish."

Soul frowned as his eyes trailed down from her face to the bloody mess beneath the left side of her ribcage. After feeling around inside all of his pockets, Soul looked over to Maka, "Do you have your key with you?"

Thoughts momentarily away from the pain, Maka lifted her head to glare at him. "I thought I told you to tie it around your neck?"

"And do you honestly think there is any chance in hell of that happening?"

She glared at him, pressing her lips together.

"Well?"

Sighing, Maka leaned slightly to the left. "Back right pocket..." she paused. "You know, Ox keeps _his_ keys tied around his neck."

"Maka," he said, giving her the driest look he could manage. "Ox is a complete retard."

Soul pointedly ignored the disapproving glance thrown his way and moved closer, allowing Maka to rest her weight against his forearm. Trying (and admittedly failing) to keep his thoughts strictly platonic, Soul slid his fingers into the back pocket of her jeans and easily retrieved their house key. Righting his wobbly girlfriend, Soul quickly rushed to unlock the door which eventually opened after an impatient shove.

"Alright, come 'ere you." Carefully sliding one arm around her back, and the other underneath her knees, Soul lifted her back into his arms. Maka's head lolled against his shoulder.

Soul stepped inside the tiny apartment and roughly kicked the door closed behind them. He didn't bother with his shoes as he raced across the room and set her down onto the couch, careful of her wound. Maka watched as he stuffed pillows underneath her head and, while breathing in his scent, she relaxed unconsciously. When satisfied that she was comfortable, Soul came over and bent down in front of her.

The couple stared quietly at one another, assessing the damage received.

"How are you doing?" Soul asked, lifting his hand to rest at the top of her head.

"I'm good."

"Yea?"

"Yea."

He let his fingers trace down her cheek slowly before he pulled away. "I'll be right back."

Soul returned five minutes later, bringing with him three large towels, various bandages, half a bottle of alcohol and a bowl of hot water.

"We're out of the normal disinfectant, so I just grabbed a bottle of vodka," Soul said as he sat down cross-legged in front of the couch, arranging all his supplies around him. "Nothing good of course, just some cheap shit Blackstar brought over."

Soul had changed out of his wet clothes and into an old, faded pair of jeans, leaving his chest bear. After a moment of staring, Maka frowned as she moved her hand to poke a finger over a long thin scar lining his wiry muscles. It was one she'd never noticed before.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," Maka smiled, retrieving her hand. "Just looking."

"Like what you see?"

"Mhmm."

Soul gave her a crooked grin. Happy with the gentle laugh he received he turned back to face the ugly gash on her side. With two fingers, Soul lifted the cloth of her bloody t-shirt up and away from the wound. He'd known it wasn't anywhere near life threatening, but when he scanned her torso evenly and his eyes had confirmed this for him, he felt a rush of relief calm his nerves.

"Lean forward," Soul instructed. When Maka managed to push herself up with her arms, Soul quickly pulled off what was left of her tattered shirt and sweater. Maka eased herself back down to the couch with a pained 'oof', left in only her blood stained bra and rain soaked jeans.

The scrapes were no more then half a centimeter at their deepest, but the four cuts each ran in jagged lines from the bottom of her hipbone to the underside of her breast. The rain had cleaned away any visible dirt. Soul dipped one of the thin towels into the warm water beside him then, straining out any excess water turned to press it against Maka's stomach.

"Alright love," Soul began with a grin when he eventually moved to grab the vodka, "I won't lie to you, this is gonna hurt like a bitch."

Maka cringed, trying to tell herself she was just imagining the sadistic glint in his red eyes.

It suited him _far _too well.

lllllllllllllllllllllllll

"There. Good as new." Soul grinned, admiring his work. Maka simply glowered at him from where she sat upright on the cushions.

"You didn't have to tie it _that_ tight, idiot," she rubbed the bandages knotted around her waist. "Normal people tend to loosen up when their patient stops breathing."

"You know, a simple _thankyou_ would suffice," Soul yawned, stretching tiredly. "God I'm completely done in, lets go to bed and you can clean up all this crap tomorrow."

Letting the comment slide (she was far too tired to get mad), Maka allowed Soul to gently lead her down the hall, through the bedroom and finally, under the covers of their bed. A familiar and comforting warmth slid down into the pit of her belly as Soul wrapped his arms around her.

"Soul?"

"Mhmm?"

"Thanks."

She could feel his smile as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

lllllllll

lllllllll

lllllllll

* * *

Oh lordy, what a puddle of goo. Not to mention a cheesy title, yeesh. I need to go watch a war movie...


End file.
